The present invention relates to food treatment systems such as vertical rise dryers, smokers, curing chambers, ovens, warmers, coolers, and freezers.
Conventionally, several different food treatment system configurations have been proposed to smoke, cure, dry, cook, cool, or freeze food products (such as meat products) with the hope of increasing production capacity while attempting to limit the floor space required for carrying out same. In so doing, vertical rise systems have been used with spiral conveyors to move food vertically through the oven while exposing the food to certain processing conditions as it moves from top to bottom or bottom to top.
For example, the Northfield LST (Large Spiral Technology) freezer available from Frigoscandia Equipment (fmcfoddtech.com) is a high capacity non-self stacking spiral freezer that employs spiral conveyors with belts available in different widths. Ryson International Inc. of Newport News, Va., provides spiral conveyors that allegedly feature a small footprint and space savings over other brands with load capacities of up to 200 fpm.
Another example is the TURBO-Dryer(copyright) from Wyssmont (wyssmont.com). The TURBO-Dryer(copyright) uses a stack of slowly rotating circular trays. In operation, food is fed onto the top tray and, after one revolution, is wiped or swept onto the next lower tray where the operation is repeated. The trays are enclosed in a vertical enclosure that circulates heated air or gas about the food on the trays. All or selected levels in the enclosure may be held at a uniform temperature or the enclosure may be configured with zoned temperature regions having different temperatures.
Yet another example of vertical rise system is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,265 which describes conveying pepperoni meat to a conventional spiral dryer which includes a number of tiers (typically about 38-42) according to the initial moisture level, the desired final moisture level, the relative humidity of the air, the total amount of water to be removed, the temperature, and the conveyor speed.
Recently, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/888,925 to Shefet et al. described an increased capacity food processing system that can limit the amount of dedicated floor space required to support the system in food processing facilities and/or that can increase the amount of food that can be processed through the food processing system over a production period. The contents of this application are hereby incorporated by reference as if recited in full herein.
Despite the above, there remains a need to provide food routing apparatus in food processing systems, particularly in high-speed mass production systems, that can effectuate food transfer along desired travel paths in an automated manner that promotes continuous movement and/or inhibits machine or system downtime.
The present invention provides food transport or routing methods, systems, and apparatus that are suitable for commercial mass-production (high-capacity) substantially automated food processing systems.
In certain embodiments, the commercial and/or mass production transport systems, mechanisms, and guides for food processing are configured so as to automate food transport to direct food products to travel serially over side-by-side travel paths using a pick-up device and/or router guide with guide channels while also allowing food to be diverted to desired alternate paths. In certain embodiments, the systems are able to laterally translate the food products that may travel in the side-by-side travel paths so as to automatically move the food from a first travel path to a different second travel path while the food is being propelled forward so that the food travels greater than one, and typically a plurality, of revolutions about a tier or level in a food processing unit. In other embodiments, a food diverter can be configured to operate (with moving or stationary floors) to dislodge, pick-up, push, or pull the food item from a support substrate to a different support surface or member. That is, the food items can be stationary on a support floor (that can itself be stationary or movable) and the food diverter can be configured to move into the flooring under the support surface to dislodge, scoop, push, or pull the food item from the support surface onto the diverter.
The router guide can define a stationary or movable (linear) travel region with a stationary or moving floor that cooperates with stationary or moving floors (such as one or more conveyors) located on one or either side of the router guide. In certain embodiments, the router guide is stationary and resides in the line of travel of the food and is positioned between two moving floors to transfer food being advanced therebetween so as to provide the desired speed and inhibit collisions or disruptions in the transport process. In other embodiments, the router guide is dynamically configured to repetitively extend and retract into the travel path (either in-line with the travel lanes/paths of the food or positionally offset relative thereto).
The travel path can include a transfer zone and the transfer zone can be formed of one or more moving floors, stationary floors, or combinations of each. The router guide may also be stationary in the transfer zone or be dynamically locatable in its desired transfer position. Accordingly, the floors of the transfer region may be stationary, may move, and may cooperate with a dynamic or stationary router guide as desired for a particular application or food transfer need.
In certain embodiments, the moving floor proximate the router guide is configured with a support surface that has a gap portion that underlies a food product. The router guide can include a downwardly extending finger that, in operation, is received into the gap of the moving floor underlying the food to thereby direct, scoop, or lift the food onto or over the finger and through the router guide so as to automatically cause or direct the food to travel a desired travel path associated therewith. A portion of the adjacent downstream travel path (downstream of the finger) can be defined by the inclined or ramped portion of the router guide. As such, as described above, the finger and ramped router guide can direct the food upward or downward to a subsequent lateral path transition zone so as to advance the food in the processing system environment.
In other embodiments, the router guide finger can be configured to retract and extend to repetitively enter the gap portion(s) of the floor so as to engage with a stationary or moving floor, and, in operation, dislodge food items resting on the surface of the floor proximate the underlying finger of the router guide.
In certain embodiments, the food item travels over a plurality of tiers in a vertically stacked tier arrangement and the food item travels a plurality of revolutions about each tier before moving to the next tier. Such an arrangement can increase the amount of product that can be concurrently processed and/or reduce the unused volume in vertical rise systems over conventional designs.
The food processing system can be configured to provide separate temperature regulated (and moisture or humidity, air velocity, cooling, heating, sprinkling, gas, and the like) spaces over one or more tiers in the vertically stacked ovens (or over other spaces in non-stacked ovens).
Certain embodiments are directed to methods for routing food in a food processing system having a plurality of side-by-side predetermined travel lanes. The method includes: (a) advancing a food item over a first travel lane in the food processing system; then (b) directing the food item through a lateral router guide having a floor and opposing ingress and egress portions; and then (c) releasing the food item from the egress portion so that the food item continues forward to a second travel lane that is laterally spaced apart a distance from the first travel lane.
In particular embodiments, the advancing step may include conveying using at least one conveyor with an associated conveyor speed that engages with the router guide. The router guide itself may have a moveable or stationary floor (or combinations thereof). The directing step can include the steps of receiving the elongated food item into the ingress portion of the router guide; and advancing the elongated food item through the stationary router guide at least partially responsive to the forward momentum generated by the conveying speed.
Other embodiments are directed to methods of moving food items to be cooked or cured through a food processor having an oven. The methods include: (a) concurrently transporting a plurality of strands of elongated food such that the elongated food strands can travel over separate ones of side-by-side selectable pre-determined travel lanes at a first speed; (b) directing the elongated food strands to travel separately through different respective side-by-side stationary pick-up guides, each pick-up guide having a floor, a ramped portion and opposing ingress and egress portions, so that each elongated food strand enters a respective pick-up guide and is directed to follow the ramp and exit from the egress portion thereof, and (c guiding the elongated food strands separately onto a lateral router guide after the directing step so that the each of the elongated food strands are concurrently translated a lateral distance proximate to but downstream of the pick-up guides to cause the strands to concurrently laterally alter their travel lanes in a predetermined manner.
In particular embodiments, a diverter conveyor (positioned downstream of the router guide) defines a moving floor that cooperates with a plurality of separate side by side guide channels having an associated width and upwardly extending walls to guide the lateral translation of the elongated food strands to move along the desired transition travel path. The elongated food strand can be a meat product held in a collagen casing that may present increased friction during processing (tactile adhesiveness or stickiness).
Other embodiments are directed to methods of transporting food through a vertically stacked multi-tier food processor having a plurality of predefined side-by-side travel lanes. The method includes transporting at least one food item over a predetermined travel path in a food processor having a plurality of vertically stacked tiers which are longitudinally spaced apart, wherein a plurality of the tiers have a plurality of side-by-side travel lanes such that the food item travels greater than one revolution in a tier to pass by a reference location a plurality of times before moving to the next predetermined tier. The transporting step comprises transporting the food item on at least one tier such that the food item moves, in serial order, over a first moving floor portion, to a cooperating stationary floor portion, and to a cooperating second moving floor portion before the at least one food item moves to the next predetermined tier.
In certain embodiments, the stationary floor portion is defined by a forward member of a pick-up guide having a ingress planar lower edge portion that terminates into an inclined ramp portion with upwardly extending sidewalls and an egress upper edge portion. The directing step can also include directing the food to travel over a diverter conveyor moving floor portion after the stationary floor portion and before the second moving floor. The diverter moving floor portion may be located at a height that is below the egress upper edge portion. In other embodiments, the forward member of the pick-up guide angularly extends downwardly to a location below the surface of the food upstream of and proximate to the pick-up guide.
As before, in operation in certain particular embodiments, the food item can be propelled forward to travel upwardly on the inclined ramp over or through the router guide (that may have a dynamic or stationary floor portion) that is positioned intermediate the first moving floor portion and the diverter moving floor portion.
Other embodiments are directed to commercial capacity food processing apparatus. The apparatus includes: (a) a housing defining an enclosure and having a food inlet and a food outlet and a predetermined food travel path therethrough; and (b) a plurality of stacked tiers residing in the housing. The tiers include: (a) at least one moving floor configured to move a food product in a predetermined tier travel path, the tier being configured with a plurality of side-by-side travel lanes; (b) a plurality of pick-up guides, a respective one for each of the travel lanes, positioned downstream of and in the predetermined travel path, in cooperative communication with the at least one conveyor, the pick-up guides having upwardly extending opposing sidewall portions and opposing food ingress and egress portions with a ramped portion extending therebetween; and (c) a plurality of router guide channels located downstream of the pick-up guides and in cooperating communication therewith, each guide channel having upwardly extending side walls that overlie a guide channel floor adapted to support the food as the food travels through a respective guide channel, wherein, in operation, the router guide channels guide the food product from a first travel lane into a different predetermined laterally altered travel lane, wherein the guide channels upwardly extending sidewalls define an angular departure from the primary travel direction between the pick-up guides and the portion of the predetermined travel path that is located downstream of the router guide channels, so that, in operation, the at least one food product is directed to travel through a respective guide channel and laterally alter its travel path from a first travel lane to a second predetermined travel lane.
In certain embodiments, the guide channel sidewalls are arranged in parallel alignment. The router guide floor and/the pick-up guide floor may be stationary or may be configured to move.
Still other embodiments are directed to mechanisms for directing the movement of a food product. The mechanism includes a pick-up guide having opposing ingress and egress end portions and a ramp portion extending therebetween, the pick-up guide having a floor and upwardly extending sidewalls on opposing sides thereof, wherein the ingress portion includes an angularly extending protruding forward member. In position, and in operation, the pick-up guide is adapted to accept food being propelled forward at a desired speed and direct the food to change its vertical height as it travels over the length of the router guide.
Still other mechanisms are configured to alter the lateral direction of travel of a food product. The device includes a food travel floor having a lateral transition zone with a floor for supporting the food as it moves through the transition zone, the floor having a predetermined length that is a minor portion of the length of the food travel path. The device also includes a plurality of guide channels configured to overlie and cooperate with the floor, the guide channels having upwardly extending sidewalls and opposing forward and rearward portions that are configured to define parallel laterally translating travel spaces therein. The guide channels receive food items therein and move the food items forward in a laterally translated direction relative to the direction at entry thereto as the food item moves from the forward portion to the rearward portion thereof.
The foregoing and other objects and aspects of the present invention are explained in detail in the specification set forth below.